For 34 years, the SR-71 Blackbird's Mach3+ speeds allowed it to outfly every surface to air missile fired against it in 3,000+ sorties. For many, the retiring of the Blackbird was the end of an era. Ground crews decorated the Blackbird sent back to Kadena A.F.B. with a gravestone motif to commemorate the end of the "Habu's" reign. It is still the world's fastest air-breathing aircraft.